At the time, the drug problem wasn’t any worse at a school the size of Rogers, and probably not any better, said David Roller, who that year became the first full-time athletic trainer in Arkansas when he was hired by the Rogers School District. Roller helped implement drug testing in Rogers and ran the program until last year, when the district turned over its drug testing to Employee Screening Management (ESM). Testing for steroids, however, is not part of the testing program at Rogers, nor most other schools in Arkansas. The Springdale School District also has a comprehensive testing program for illegal drugs and the abuse of prescription drugs, but athletes at Har-Ber High and Springdale High are also subject to an additional testing. Since area schools started drug testing athletes in the mid-1990s, steroid use among high school athletes has increased almost four times over a 15-year period nationally. read more

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So, as students prepare to take the required physicals, young athletes need to be aware of the dangers of sudden cardiac death. Sudden cardiac death is an abrupt occurrence in which the heart ceases to function, and death results within minutes. The most common cause of sudden cardiac death in the United States is hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, a condition in which the muscle mass in the left ventricle hypertrophies, or thickens. A complete cardiac workup includes a thorough physical examination, blood work, EKG, ECHO, cardiac stress test, and, in some cases, a cardiac catheterization. To promote early diagnosis of heart disease and heart muscle abnormalities, Wise Regional Health System, in conjunction with Advanced Heart Care, is providing free cardiac echocardiogram screenings for Wise County junior high and high school athletes who are participating in football, volleyball or cross country. read more

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